Chapter Two

"What the hell is your problem?" Addy asked me that night in the common room.

I looked at her innocently for once, I think at least.

"You broke up with Elizabeth. I thought you really liked being her girlfriend?" she asked me still angrily.

"You seem to be doing a pretty good job of being her boyfriend. I just thought I shouldn't be in the way of something that just seemed so….right." I told her keeping a straight face.

She stood there looking at me shocked. I don't think, looking back, that before then I had ever, ever, spoken an unkind word to her.

I stood up from my chair by the fire stood in front of her then I walked around her and walked into my common room. She turned to watch me walk up the stairs her mouth hanging open.

I flopped on my bed and stared at the hangings over my head blankly, nothing ran through my head. James walked in his face pale and doleful. "Hey."

He looked up at me and then back down at his feet, "Hey."

"What's up?" I asked.

"Everything. It looks like I'll be looking up for the rest of my life. Everyone's mad at me! Your sister, you, Lily, Addy, Elizabeth, Lily's friends, Katy's friends. You all have reasons though and it's making me feel like a total screw up."

"You mean like more of one then usual?" I asked angrily.

He looked at me strangely, "What's up your ass?"

"Everyone! Everything! Sometimes I wonder if I wasn't just put on this earth for God's amusement. Well guess what I'm pretty goddamn tired of this little dance. Have a nice life!" and with that I got up and started past him.

"Sirius, where are you going?" James asked me grabbing my arm.

"Away from here. This planet, this life, I give up!" and with that I wrenched my arm from his grip and left the dorm room. I ignored all the death glares I was getting from Addy's crowd and left for the astronomy tower.

When I got to the tower and this girl from Ravenclaw was standing on the rim of the North Tower, her red hair whipping wickedly in the wind and rain.

"What are you doing?" I called over the rumbling of the thunder.

She turned to me her purple eyes sparkling happily, "I love storms, can't you just feel the power radiating from the core of the storm?"

I looked at her and thought "holy crap she's crazy" but then she beckoned to me to stand on the rim next to her. As I stood on the rim with this crazy girl I did actually feel the power in each rumble of thunder vibrating up the tower. I saw the lightning dancing on the lake, felt the sting of the rain being whipped onto my body by the wind. I was daunted and enchanted by this power and I looked at the girl next to me and she had her arms outstretched like she could fly.

Laughing a flung my arms out as well and leaned against the wind and rain. My hair whipped around my face and the girl next to me screamed out of pure emotion. I must have stayed out there with that girl all night just leaning against the wind and feeling the seemingly infinite power of the thunder storm. Thank god the next day was Saturday.

As we leaned against the rim of the North Tower, clothes and hair soaking the clouds began to clear away, breathing heavily we both looked at each other and smiled.

"What's…your….name?" I asked panting.

"Devin. What's yours?"

"Sirius," I answered.

"Oh," she said quietly.

I looked into her eyes and saw a mixture of mingling pleasure from the storm and dismay at having been in the North Tower with me. "Sorry," I said not sure what I was apologizing for.

She looked up into my eyes and said, "I always thought that you were the hugest playboy in Hogwarts. That you couldn't go five minutes with a girl without using a pick-up-line or hitting on her. But you just spent 12 hours without doing that."

"I did you just couldn't hear me," I joked and she laughed and I felt light hearted for the first time in two days.

Then the door burst open and Brian was leading a giggling Liz into the tower. She stopped giggling when she saw me though.

Dev looked between me and Liz and said tentatively, "Hi liz."

"Hi," she said looking at me.

I looked at Liz with cold, hard, grey eyes and then I got up and walked through the door ramming my shoulder into Brian's.

He looked at me angrily rubbing his shoulder. "What the hell is your problem, Black?"

"You," I said at what I hope was a cold, toneless voice.

Devin looked between Brian, Liz, and me then smiling weakly she ran after me. "Sirius! Wait up."

I stopped and turned around to wait. As she reached me I turned around and we walked side-by-side.

"What happened back there? What did I miss?" Devin asked me.

"Liz was my girlfriend until yesterday afternoon,"

"She replaced you pretty fast," Devin said.

"You're not getting it! She was going out with me and him at the same time," I told Devin.

"That is totally not like Liz at all!" Devin said outraged.

"I thought so too. And you know I really liked her too," I said glumly.

Devin nodded understandingly. Then she brightened, "But if she did then she didn't deserve you then."

I shrug unbelievingly.

"Race ya' outside!" Devin yells and sprints off in the direction of the Entrance Hall.

I sprinted after her and drew even she turned and grinned at me. I grinned back as we ran out the doors into the puddle on the stairs to the castle.

She slid and almost slipped but I caught her. And she stomped her foot spraying my already soaking school pants.

She grabbed my hand and led me off down onto the grounds where she promptly scooped up a handful of mud and threw it at me.

"Oh, it's on now," I said. Bending and scooping up some mud I got some full in the face. I wiped the mud away from my eyes and slung my mud at her.

Our mud fight went on till late in the afternoon when we both slumped against and oak tree by the lake.

When we finally made our way back to the castle it was lunch time and both of us are starving.

Remus looked at me as I sat next to him my school clothes covered in mud and soaking wet he asked me, "What the hell, padfoot?"

"Mud fight," I said before loading my plate and shoving food in my mouth.

"With who?" James asked.

I mumbled my answer through a ham sandwich and chips.

"That's disgusting!" Lily called down the table at me.

I opened my mouth and said, "Aahhhh!"

"You're so immature!" Liz called.

"So are you," I called back swallowing.

"Did you guys break up or something?" Remus asked.

I nodded and put more food in my mouth. "Been up all night, didn't have breakfast, I could eat a million giants!"

"Why were you up all night?" Remus asked me.

"Just hanging around up in the North Tower," I said vaguely before I caught Devin's eye and I stood up. "See you guys later!" I called out and walked out of the Great Hall with Devin.

"Who's she?" James asked a little jealously.

"Devin Clearwater. She's a Ravenclaw," Remus told him.

"I suspect that she was the reason that he was up all night on the North Tower," James said a little more assured.

"It's not what you're thinking," said Remus. "She's very religious. She wears to rings on her left hand. The first one is removed when she gets engaged and the second one on the day of her marriage. They remind her to wait."

James looked at Remus, "How'd you know that?"

"She blew up at Brian Davies about it once," he answered shrugging.

James once again looked slightly jealous and resentful.

Me and Devin were sitting under an oak tree by the lake and talking about ourselves.

"I come from a normal family, siblings: a sister named Kimberly who's 12 and a brother Mark who's 20. Everyone knows your family," She said smiling at me.

"Oi! Sirius!" James yelled half way to the tree.

"What?" I called back.

"Ummm. Do you know what night it is Sirius?" James asked.

"Saturday….Oh! Crap sorry Dev gotta run!" I said tonight was full moon and I forgot. What kind of friend was I?

Me and James sprinted towards the castle as the sun set big and red behind us. The whole time I was kicking myself, how could I be such a bad friend?